Improvement in sewing-machines for boots and shoes



3 Sheet s Sheet 1. G. V. SHEFFIELD.

Sewipg-Machin'es for Boots and Shoes. No. 135,047. PatentedJan-21,I873.

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v Sewing-Machines for Boots and Shoes. No.135,047. tented n =21,1873.

WlTNES SE;/' INVENTOR 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

G. V. SHEFFIELD. Sewing-Machines for Boats and Shoes.

Patented Jan. 21,1873.

INVENTOR AM PHOTO-LITHOGRAPHIC c0. N.Y. osaonnels PRucsss) UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE V. SHEFFIELD, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN SEWING-MACHINES FOR BOOTS AND SHOES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 135,047, dated January 21, 1873.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE V. SHEFFIELD, now of Boston, county of Suffolk and Com.- monwealth of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machinery for Fastening Soles to Boots and Shoes by Taper-Thread Staples and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawing which forms a part of this specification, and in which- Figure 1 represents a side view of my said machine. Fig. 2 represents a front view of the machine. Fig 3 represents a top or plan view of the machine. Fig. 4 represents upon an enlarged scale a vertical central section of 6 represents upon an enlarged scale a vertical central section of the work-table and devices connected therewith, shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Fig. 7 represents upon an enlarged scale section of the iastening when applied to boot or shoe soles.

The present machine is an improvement upon the machine for which Letters Patent were granted to me on the 5th day of March, 1872; and to enable those skilled in the art to which my present invention relates to make and use the same, I will describe the said improvements in detail.

In the drawing the part marked A represents the base of the machine, which is supported by legs B. From the rear of the base A a supporting-post, A, rises, and has attached to its upper end the rear part of the supporting-frame B. Upon the back of post A is arranged a journal or shaft, upon which turns the driving-gear O, which gears into the combined spur and bevel gear 0, upon the rear end of shaft 0, which turns in bearings a a on frame B. Upon the front end of shaft 0 is a blank-wheel, b, having an eccentricpin, b, which is fitted to work in the slot 0 in the needle-plate 0, which is fitted to work up and down in guides in the needleeplate frame D fastened to the front of frame B.

' It will thus be seen that, when gear 0 is revolved, which may be done by pulley or crank, needle 0, which is held in place in the needle-plate C by a set-screw, 0, will have a reciprocating 0r up-anddown motion imparted to it, and thus when the needle is forced down that its barbed end 1 will be forced down through the central hole d in the face of the rotating thread-plate2 upon the upper end of a rotatin g tubular shaft, 3, which is supported and turns in another tubular shaft, 4, which in turn is supported and rocks or reciprocates in the tubular work-table D, which is fastened to the front of the base A. The inner tubular shaft to which the thread-plate 2 is fastened, is pro vided with a small spur-gear, d, on its lower end, which gears into and receives its rotating motion from gear cl, which in turn is driven by gear 0 on the shaft or journal of gear 6, which is driven by gear 0 on the lower end of shaft D, driven by gear f from gear f on shaft 0. Upon the lower end of the re ciprocating tubular" shaft 4 is fastened the gear 9, which is rocked back and forth by means of a rack, 9, upon the end of a lever, E, journaled at g, the vibrations of said lever and rack being imparted by, a stud, h, from gear 6 which passes through a slot in lever E. Upon the upper end of the tubular shaft 4 is secured a thread-feeding device, h which is reciprocated or rocked upon a vertical axis, when the machine is in operation, by means of the rack and lever just described. From the right of the frame D project holding-straps i t i, within which is arranged a sliding frame, F, said frame being pressed out by a spring, j, and is forced in at the proper time by arms G G upon a journal or upright shaft, G, said shaft being operated to throw the arms in by means of apin, is, projecting down from the gear H, which gear is operated by the intermediate gear H from gear 0. Pin It strikes, as it passes around, upon the curved surface 7c of the cam-plate H, and thereby rocks shaft G and its arms G G. A ring-lever, I, has its journal at the top of stud 1', its front end being connected to the upper end of the punch or awl and feed-spindle J .between the collars ll. Apin or stud, J, Fig. 3, projects in from the front part of the ring-lever I, whereby, when the cam-plate K, Fig. 2, fast on the shaft of gear H, is revolved, its cam m comes in contact with a roll on said pin, (see dotted lines Fig. 3,) and forces down the front end of ring-lever I, together with the punch and feed-spindle J but just before this takes place the cam m on plate K comes in contact with a lug or dog, 5, fast on the upper end of spindle J, and turns it so as to bring its awl or punch a in the arm J over the work-table and in line with the hole (I, so that when the spindle J is depressed by the mechanism before explained, its awl is forced through the work or soles to be fastened; and while in this position the ends of arms G G are caused to press in the the work is fed to the'proper position for the;

next fastening, the hole made by the awl being directly over the hole (I and under the barbed needle.

The punch and feed-spindle J are raised by the cam-surface 6 0f the flange 7 on gear H coming in contact with the under side of the roll and pin or stud J and by the time spindle J has been raised so as to withdraw its awl fully from the work pin is has passed the cam-surface k, and the cam m has passed the dog or lug 5, thus permitting spring j to force out or back the spindle-frame F, while'the spiral spring 8 turns the spindle J so as to turn its awl in and out of the way of, the needle, as.

when the machine is in operation, and holds it to the work-table, the needle playing in a slot in the end of the foot. The foot can be raised and lowered by means of the lever L, having its fulcrum at O on frame B. The rear end of lever L is slotted to receive an eccentric, 11, on the end of a shaft, 12, that passes through frame B.

The operator, by turning the hand-wheel M on the opposite end of shaft 12, can turn the eccentric l1, and thus elevate or depress the presser-foot at pleasure.

A sliderod, 19, is arranged to work up and down back of the plate 0'. To its lower end is attached a guide or gage arm, 13, the lower end'of which extends down past the arm J I and when said arm is depressed to punch the hole and feed the material the gage arm 13 is also depressed by means of a cam, 14, on the blank-wheel b, said cam striking the curved point where slide-rod pand gage-arm 13 are connected, asshown at 15.

After the material has been punched and fed along, and spindle J rises, cam 14 passes the curved part of rod 1), when the latter, together with gage arm 13, are elevated by means of the bent spring 16 into the position shown in Fig. 2. A shaft, N, is arranged to rock in suitable bearings upon the side of the machine, and upon its front end are two earns, 17, between which the rear-ends of a pair of nippers, 18, are placed. The jaws of said nippers are arranged to come close upon the outer surface of the sole of a boot or shoe, and are also so arranged as to grasp one double taper fastening while the next is being drawn up taut by the barbed needle. I design, also, to combine with these nippers a pair of cutters in rear of the points of the nipper-jaws, and have them so arranged that they will cut off the ends of one fastening while the nippers hold the next, while the barbed needle is drawing up the next fastening. 19 is a gage to prevent the work from being slipped in too far, and is secured to the side of the presserfoot. Shaft N is rocked back and forth to operate the nipper-jaws by means of a pin, 20, on gear 0, which strikes the end of arm 21, fastened to the rear end .of shaft N.

The operation is as follows: The end of the thread is taken and drawn from spool 0, held and turning in a suitable frame under the base A, passed down into wax-box P, under a guide in the bottom of said box; then up between a pair of clamping-jaws, 20 thence up through the tubular shaft 3, and out of the eccentric hole 21 in the rotating thread'plate 2, upon the upper end of shaft 3, and is made fast to some part of the machine. The boot or shoe, the sole of which is to be fastened to the upper, is now placed upon the work-table, so that the inner sole will rest upon the threadfeeding device h. The machine is now set in motion by power properly applied, the hole is punched, as before explained, and the barbed needle descends, so that its barbed end passes down through the work into the central hole (1 in the plate 2 so that its barb will be just below the upper surface of the plate. While the needle is descending the thread-feedin g device h reciprocates, and its hooked lip S catches the thread and draws enough of it from the bobbin to form half the length of a double-taper fastening, and at the same time the rotating thread-carrying plate winds its thread about the needle. As the needle rises,

its barb draws the thread up through fromthe 3 inside of the boot or shoe to the outside, the thread being so adjusted that the length of thread fed off by feed device h will bring the smallest or taper part of the thread into the barb, the balance of thread to form the other half of the fastening being drawn off from the bobbin by the needle as it rises, and

ening is inserted as before, with the exception that when the second and all subsequent stitches or fastenings are drawn. up-the nippers 18 clamp and hold the ends of the pre ceding stitch or fastening to keep it in place, when the third stitch or fastening is made.

I design to have a pair of cutters combined with the nippers 18 to cut 011 the ends of the first stitch or fastening, and so on after that.

The thread clamping jaws 20 are constructed and operated, in this instance, as follows: A plate, 22, one part of the jaw, is fastened to the side of the wax-box, and extends out over the box, and to the inner end is connected, by a link-joint, the inner end of the movable jaw 22, the outer end of which is connected by a joint to the front end of arm 23, the rear end of which is hinged to the end of arm 24, on quill 25, on the stud 26. Quill 25 has an arm, 27, which is operated by means of a cam, 28, on gear 6. (Jam 28 is so arranged as to act on arm 27 to close the jaws 20 upon the thread at the proper time to hold the thread, as before explained. When the fastening is being drawn up taut by the needle the feed may be regulated by screwing in or unscrewing the set-screw 29 in one of the straps i,- and the length of thread fed ed by the feed device h may be varied by changing stud It so as to give rack g a greater or less vibration or sweep. One way in which this may be done is by having different holes in the gear in which stud h is inserted.

It will be understood that the thread-feed device It as now constructed does not make an entire revolution, but it could be made to make more than a single revolution.

It will be seen, by reference to Fig. 4 that it requires, '(as table D is constructed,) seven sets of gears tov communicate the motion from tubular shafts 3 and 4 in the lower part of the table to the corresponding parts at the top of the table; and if the upper part of the table were extended horizontally still further it might require one or more sets of additional gears.

The work-table and devices connected with it, shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 6, are designed for sewing or fastening on the solefrom the ball, back and around the heel, while the work-table, avertical central section of which is shown in Fig. 4, is designed for sewing or fastening on the front part of the sole, and, consequently, is made with an ofl'set, as fully shown in said figure, and which modification requiresthe introduction of the additional mechanism shown in Fig. 4 for communicating the power through the angles and offset to the feed device h and rotating the threadplate 2, which are the same in both Figs. 4 and 6.

The modification shown in Fig. 4 enables the operator to quilt the whole front part of the sole when desired.

It may be remarked that the feed-device h is rocked back by the rack g as the needletion, and desire to'secure by Letters Patent,

1. The thread-feeding device h and rotating thread-carrying plate, combined and operating substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. The combination, with the work-table D, of the tubular shafts 3 and 4 for operating the thread feeding and carrying devices, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

3. The combination, with the tubular shaft 4, of gear g, rack g, lever E, and gear '6 and its stud h, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

4. The combination, with the slideframe F, of the operating-arms G G, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

5. The combination, with the feed and punch spindle J, stud J,' ring-lever I, 'and' plate K, of cams M M and dog 5, substanstantially as and for the purposes set forth.

6. The combination, with the ring-lever I and punch and feed spindle or arm J, of gear H, flange], and cam b, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

7. The combination, with the arms G G and their shaft G and cam-plate H, of pin 70 and gear H, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

8. The combination, with the punching and feeding devices, of the gage-arm 13, substantially as and for the purposes set forth. 9. The combination of the gage-arm 13 and slide 12, having the curved part 15, with the cam 14 and spring 16, for the purposes set forth.

10. The combination, with the presser-foot L, of the nippers 18, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

11. The combination, with the nippers 18, of the cams 17 and their operating-shaft N, substantially as and for the purposes set forth GEORGE V. SHEFFIELD.

Witnesses:

J. A. KINsuAN. E. E. Mooan. 

